Kriti Mehrotra
With Hulu’s ‘The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox’ revisiting the murder of Meredith Kercher through the eyes of the woman wrongfully convicted of the crime, we get a series like no other. It actually delves into the titular American exchange student’s fight for justice following media sensationalization and public attention, which arguably put the victim herself on the back burner. Therefore, we can’t help but wonder about the loved ones the late 21-year-old British native was forced to leave behind when she was killed in her Perugia, Italy, apartment on November 1, 2007.
Meredith Kercher Was the Apple of Her Family’s Eyes
It was on December 28, 1985, in Southwark, London, when Arline and John Kercher welcomed Meredith Susanna Cara Kercher into this world as the youngest of their four adorable children. She thus grew up surrounded by affection, care, and kindness since her parents, her two elder brothers John and Lyle, and her elder sister Stephanie strived to support her every step of the way. In fact, according to all their own accounts, she was the guiding light of their lives, with how bubbly, generous, full of joy, and warm she was to not only them but anyone she ever came across.
Things did change for the Kerchers in 1997 as Arline and John divorced owing to some irreconcilable differences, yet their kids seemingly didn’t suffer much due to their being able to co-parent well. Their amicability was at such a level that they both almost always managed to show up for all the different events or occasions significant to their four little ones without any drama. It thus comes as no surprise they once recalled how their youngest was passionate about art, culture, education, and extracurriculars – she wrote poetry, did ballet, and had an orange belt in karate.
Therefore, when Arline and John received the tragic news of Meredith’s murder while she was attending the University of Perugia in Italy in early November 2007, they were shattered to the very core. It suddenly didn’t matter that they had been separated for a decade as they traveled to this Umbrian city together to identify their daughter’s remains, but the patriarch couldn’t do it. According to reports, he refused to view her because he wanted his last image of her to be from when he had seen her a couple of weeks prior – they had met for coffee and discussed books in London.
The Kercher Family Rarely Spoke About the Ordeal in Public
While it’s undeniable that the Kerchers experienced unimaginable pain as well as grief from losing the baby of their family, they consciously chose to remain largely silent in the public eye. They did give a few rare interviews at different points, often asserting the whole ordeal has been a “nightmare” for them because “there are a lot of unanswered questions that seem to have been ignored.”They understood Italian officials were trying their best to bring justice to Meredith, yet the way things were navigated often didn’t sit well with them due to the fact that they never learned why she was killed.
American exchange student Amanda Knox, her then-Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, as well as Ivory Coast native Rudy Guede were initially convicted of murder, but two verdicts changed on appeals. While prosecutors initially alleged Meredith’s roommate likely masterminded the offense as some sort of sex-driven revenge, she and her partner were later exonerated for good. Even the Kerchers reportedly ultimately acknowledged that they didn’t believe this duo to have any hand in the matter, per Amanda’s family, but they always made it clear they wanted the hard truths.
The Kercher Family Has Endured Significant Losses Over the Past Few Years
The Kerchers couldn’t always be in Italy for the legal proceedings in Meredith’s case due to health and financial constraints, but they often showed their involvement via public statements through lawyers. Otherwise, they remained well away from the limelight to not only deal with their grief away from prying eyes but also protect those close to them and their private experiences. Unfortunately, though, tragedy struck the family again in 2020 as both Arline and John sadly passed away within 4 months of each other – he died first in January, whereas his ex-wife died in May.
According to records, John was found lying unconscious on a road merely steps away from his Croydon home in January 2020, following which he was quickly rushed to a local hospital. He had sustained a severe head injury, a broken arm, as well as two fractured legs, resulting in him sadly succumbing three weeks later – he was 77 at the time. The local police did open an investigation into his demise as they suspected an intentional mugging or a hit-and-run accident, but from what we can tell, nothing concrete ever came from it. As for Arline, it seems like she died at the age of 74 at a Carshalton hospital in May 2020 during the first lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic, yet her precise cause of death is unclear.
Coming to Meredith’s three elder siblings, with all the losses in their lives over the past few years, they still prefer to lead quiet lives well away from the public eye. However, in 2024, Stephanie did come forward to state she does not support ‘The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox’ as a project, as she finds it “difficult to understand” how the series will serve any purpose. This professional Consumer Marketing Executive indicated that she is against it because Meredith’s story as a victim would once again likely be pushed to the back burner. Since then, Stephanie, John, and Lyle have seemingly been doing their best to move forward in life while still keeping the memories and legacy of those they lost alive in their hearts.
Read More: Who Was Rudy Guede to Meredith Kreacher? Did Amanda Knox Know Him?
